Member Story - Kay Binnersley

"Since lock down I have been so busy with lots of webinars and courses. I have attended online webinars for business training and looking at the shape of how our business may look when we return. Also attended online courses to look at possible sanitising protocols and micro costing your business, which has led to me creating a new pricing menu.  Lots of colour training courses, cutting courses, an online presenters course with Edward Hemmings. Learnt about this app called Zoom who knew this existed?

Joined lots of podcasts, tuned into Ashleigh and Ken from The Fellowship and THE KNOWLEDGE.  I have also been researching online platforms.

Built my own website (never again boy was that so hard, but always wanted to do that). I created my salon staff handbook, salon branding and mission statement. Looking too at new technology to run my new business venture.

Spent lots of time interacting with my guests online and doing a morning live positive post.  It’s been wonderful each day to be able to put out positive posts the response I have had has been amazing and that in itself is uplifting.

Coloured blocks, styled blocks. I was asked to deliver online Education into several hairdressing groups, I had over 3,000 view the education I taught!

I was part way through my colour masters when this lock down started and should have completed it by mid June to have become a colour masters expert, this is now all on hold and I have been told it could be a long time before I can go back and complete the course.

The salon was going through a refit and rebranding and although it was planned it has changed because of the virus, so I have a half refurnished salon but I know it will get completed I have faith.

I look for the positivity in everyday it might just be hearing a bird sing or the wind rustling through the trees but it’s a positive sign of life and nature and the world, so I am grateful.  Like many I have tried to exercise but it does not like me I have to force myself and would much rather do another course.

I have taken up supermarket shopping a task I do not usually do or like! But I have been looking after 8 homes in total isolation so this has involved doing their weekly shopping, checking in on them, collecting medication and just being a friendly voice.  I ring them all each evening to check on them and chat about my day as their day is just the same (so they tell me), but they say my day is full of crazy courses, and they love to hear about what I have been doing it cheers them up.

Supermarket shopping day is like a military operation, and I never knew there was so many different types of tomatoes and believe me they all like different ones.  I walk round the vegetable isle so many times one of the staff in Asda once asked “are you lost?“ My reply was no just shopping for eight homes who can’t even write shopping lists in order.

My conservatory has been turned into my makeshift salon with lots of blocks. My neighbours were very alarmed when first they saw this, I live next to the church manse.  The vicar was rather bemused and worried that I was not coping and had turned to in his words “Dolls Heads“ to help me get over not having customers!

I am super excited as this time has given me so many opportunities to stop re evaluate and put in place so many things that I would not have done.

Way back last year I decided I would like to go into education I took my teachers qualification some 20 years since but did nothing with it. I taught for a number of years but felt it was not me.

Fast forward and in January of this year,  I decided that I would launch online Education there wasn't lots of people doing it and I thought it was a good platform, I made plans to start working on my project as soon as my masters was out of the way ready to launch in September.

Then Covid 19 hit and everyone became an Educator it overwhelmed me and I could not see a way forward, for weeks I have watched all these people Educate jump onto all this new technology and steam ahead. I felt un prepared not ready and unsure how to move forward it was happening so quick around me, I was getting left behind.

Before lock down I had seen the Fellowship Presenters Course run by Edward Hemmings, unfortunately the timing of the course was wrong for me it fell on one of the days I should have been on my masters, but thought I will go on it the next time it’s run.

One day I noticed the Fellowship was going to run the course online so I quickly applied needless to say I was too late, the places were snapped up so quickly, I thought I am not destined for this course then an email appeared to say a second course was running.

That ONE hour online course with Edward Hemmings inspired me to decide that I won’t be scared, even though there are so many Educators out there. Edward talked about preparing, presenting and pushing yourself and learning from your experience.

I am so excited to say on my 51st birthday (last Sunday) I launched Kay Binnersley Hair Education!

I am running FREE Education Trial groups, so I can get used to the technology and to ensure I create the Education platform I can be proud of. I have looked at so many groups, companies, how they deliver and it ranges so widely, this has given me a clear plan of my platform and what will set me aside from others.

I have had amazing support and so many lovely kind people signing up. I truly am grateful and very blessed.

Since joining the Fellowship, they have been so supportive of me and created so many opportunities for me, in such a short time, I feel like there is so much leadership that has been shown to the hairdressing world, giving us hope. 

This virus has been terrible for so many.  But so many people have stepped up to protect our lives, and to keep the country going. We will be forever in their debt and when the time comes we will have to step up and be leaders.

Leaders in our teams, our communities,  leaders in ourselves, our families but most of all leaders of hope.  We have the greatest gift in life it’s more valuable than gold or diamonds -  its called 'Human Contact'.  We are able to contact and connect with people’s lives, we have to be brave and give hope to others we owe it to the future generations.

In years to come they will talk about this virus and say those people in 2020, they were brave and strong and they lead us back to the new world. Now that’s the team I want to be on. "The Team of Hope."